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Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Interview with Production Runner

As part of my research in to the role of director i have taken the time to get in contact with
a production runner that works within the television industry. Unfortunately I could not interview
a director as he was to busy at the time, which is understandable.

Name: Mike Hogan

Date: 20th January 2012

Name of Company: Equinox, Venus, Gate

Job Title: Production Runner

What path did you take to get to the position you are currently in?“By getting in contact with production companies with CVs and offering to work for free for the initial experience”
Did you go to university or did you work your way through the industry?
“I didn’t do a university course as I am fortunate enough that I have numerous contacts already in place within the industry”
What was your first job you worked on in the industry?
“My first job was a three full day advert shoot, it was hard work as there is a lot of heavy kit to move around and doing that all day becomes repetitive this was around 42 hour’s work in three days.”
What path would you suggest to take to get to the position you are currently in now?
“Just contact as many companies as possible once a month to inform them about what you want to be involved in, just to get your foot in the door with a company. Tell them about the projects you have worked on and make yourself available for work if they accept you. If you’re freelance, you have to keep people informed that you’re available.”
Have you always had a passion to go into the advertising/Television Industry or was it something you came across later on in life?
“My main passion is in the music industry, however this cross references to sound recording for tv and advertising, so that’s the specific path that I want to go down.”

Have you worked for any large companies in the past such as the BBC, ITV, and Channel M? If so what was your experience like and what did you learn from the company?
"I’ve worked on channel M, my experience was that it was smooth running compared to certain adverts I have done. I would say that as a whole the north is a lot better to work in the advert industry than the London area."What were your feelings on your first day in the current job you are in now?"I felt like a third wheel, it’s quite shocking at first how much it stops starts, you could be busy for three hours then just stood around for three, so it threw me off at first. But I am comfortable in my job at the moment. The hour that you are stood around though is a chance to shadow and watch other members of the team."When working on a project? Do they always work out the way you want them too or do some projects fail? And was it frustrating when they didn't work out?"Whatever I’ve worked on, it always worked out, however, I’ve never been on a shoot where it’s finished on time, every shoot runs at least an hour late, regardless if you start at 5am or 3pm. So you have to be prepared to work long and late hours."